Security Increased In Addison Slayings

DuPage County public defender Stephen Baker asked the court Thursday to protect suspect Jacqueline Annette Williams from two others charged in a grisly triple slaying in Addison.

Baker said that Williams, 28, feels threatened and intimidated by Laverne Ward, 24, her cousin, after Ward shouted obscenities at her before a recent court appearance. Ward's attorney dismissed the accusations.

"She feels physically threatened when these defendants are brought into the courtroom," Baker said.

Williams has reportedly confessed her involvement in the Nov. 16 and 17 slayings of Debra Evans, 28, and her children, Samantha, 10, and Joshua, 7.

In her confession, authorities have said, she blames her boyfriend, Fedell Caffey, 22, and Ward for committing the killings and performing a crude Caesarean section on Evans so that her live fetus could be removed. Authorities have suggested that Caffey and Williams wanted Evans' mixed-race, light-skinned baby for themselves.

Judge Ronald Mehling denied Baker's request to prevent the three from being in the same courtroom. He ordered that they be brought separately to and from the court with added security.

Mehling also decided the question of how many times the suspects may change judges, allowing the first suspect, Caffey, two changes and the others just one each. The issue is important because prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

Caffey and Williams are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon on charges of murder, kidnapping and armed robbery before Judge Peter Dockery. However, the arraignments may have to be delayed a third time for lack of a mutually acceptable judge.

As an assistant public defender in the 1980s, Dockery represented Williams and may want to withdraw, attorneys said.

Other suspects involved in the Addison case appeared in court Thursday morning.

Wheaton residents Vikki Iacullo and Dorothy Hale, both 36, are charged with helping obtain and dispose of the gun used to shoot Evans. Authorities also have charged them with obstructing other elements of the investigation. Both pleaded not guilty.

Another suspect, Ranko Kukic, 24, of Berwyn, charged with similar crimes, will be arraigned Jan. 4 in Wheaton and is expected to enter a not-guilty plea.

The three allegedly played peripheral roles in the slayings. Although Hale, Iacullo and Kukic have been charged with lesser crimes, the three could prove to be crucial to the investigation. Authorities have sealed their court files and indictments, often measures that signal the suspects have information that could lead to more arrests.